From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities, A Blog by
Dr. Gary G. Brannigan & Dr. Howard Margolis
Parents and school personnel often make a critical mistake. They assume that instruction and related factors do little or nothing to cause or sustain reading disabilities, that all reading problems lie within the struggling reader. Thus, reading and other educational evaluations that reflect this assumption stress five things: testing, testing, testing, testing, and testing. They minimize or ignore everything else. Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, evaluation, evaluations, learning assessment, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, learning evaluation, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, test, testing
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
If your child has a reading disability, the school should monitor his progress frequently enough to prevent minor problems from becoming major ones, to prevent him from getting frustrated with work that’s too difficult, to prevent him from becoming bored with work he’s already mastered, to accelerate instruction when the data shows he can handle it comfortably.
In 2006, the federally-funded National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD; Johnson et al.) recommended that schools assess the progress of students who need “extensive and intensive interventions” twice weekly (p. 2.4). Children with reading disabilities are part of this group. Read more...
Assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitor, Monitoring, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
After reading our posts on monitoring the progress of children with reading disabilities, several parents and teachers requested more information. If you want more information, we suggest you read Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds, chapters 7 (Monitoring Progress) and 9 (The IEP). We also suggest that you join our mailing list. By joining, you will get a free pdf article, Monitoring Your Child’s IEP: A Focus on Reading (co-authored by Sheila Alber-Morgan, Associate Professor, Ohio State University). We hope these suggestions help.
Assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitor, Monitoring, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
The post below was originally published two months ago. I’m republishing it because its topic—monitoring children’s progress—is critically important. The topic is so important that I’ve encouraged university scholars to provide more comprehensive information on one of its recommendations, curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Thus, the Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties (RWQ) will publish a thematic issue on advances in CBM. The issue, edited by Erica Lembke of the University of Missouri, will address many CBM topics, including its use in tutoring, newly created CBM measures for students with cognitive disabilities, and the school-wide use of CBM. Read more...
Assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitor, Monitoring, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
Yes. But many reading specialists have little knowledge of autism and other developmental disabilities. Thus you may want to share this column with them.
The Difference
Diagnosing the reading problems of students with autism is similar to diagnosing the reading problems of all children with reading disabilities. What’s different and often interferes with obtaining a valid, effective diagnosis is the student’s label: autistic. It often evokes stereotypes that prevent a close, fine-grained analysis of the student’s functioning in critical areas of reading, such as word identification, word analysis, oral reading fluency, receptive and expressive language, vocabulary and concept development, and comprehension. Deficits in any one of these areas will adversely influence reading achievement. Read more...
Assessment, Autism, autistic, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
Unfortunately, many children with reading disabilities feel hopeless and helpless about learning to read; they believe it’s better to give up than to try and to fail. Fortunately, schools and parents can do many things to change your child’s belief that he’s incompetent and that he’ll never learn to read. Only by getting your child to believe he can learn if he makes a moderate effort will he begin to work at becoming a competent reader. Read more...
Confidence, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, IEP, IEP concerns, IEP meetings, IEPs, learned helplessness, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, McCabe, monitoring of reading, Motivation, Patrick McCabe, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading intervention, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, remedial reading, remediation, self-efficacy, Special Education, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
The federal law governing special education is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. Its regulations make clear that the IEP Team must seriously consider your concerns. The regulations say:
In developing each child’s IEP, the IEP Team must consider … the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child.
One way to ensure that the IEP Team seriously considers your concerns is to send it a list of your concerns — before your child’s IEP meeting. Below is an example.
EXAMPLE
March 1, 2009 Read more...
Mrs. Estella McComick, MSW
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, IEP, IEP concerns, IEP meetings, IEPs, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading intervention, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, remedial reading, remediation, Special Education, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
